


Some Sort of Respect

by shinealightonme



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Authority Figures, Comment Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-18
Updated: 2009-05-18
Packaged: 2017-10-03 19:46:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinealightonme/pseuds/shinealightonme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the rebel becomes the Man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Sort of Respect

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Kirk and Scotty, authority." Originally posted [on LJ](http://yahtzee63.livejournal.com/404795.html?thread=10466107#t10466107).

One of the first things Kirk really appreciated about Scotty was his attitude towards authority – a playful defiance in the face of unreasonable orders and restrictive codes of conduct that was so very familiar to Kirk, and yet so sadly missing from his other friends and colleagues. Spock was the living, breathing embodiment of the regulations, as well as a bunch of other rules that Kirk suspected he made up just for the hell of it, or whatever the Vulcan equivalent of "for the hell of it" was. Bones had no problem calling out rules that were bullshit, but he and Kirk didn't always see eye to eye about what was bullshit and what were Measures Necessary To Maintain Order, and he could get scary about defending those rules from Kirk's more flexible interpretation. With Bones, it was always "Stop being an ass, Jim," and "You really can't do that in a professor's office, Jim," and "Congratulations on finding such a wonderful new way of getting yourself killed, Jim." But Scotty was Kirk's kind of guy. Scotty sent Admiral's beagles into the great unknown and thumbed his nose at superior officers when it suited him.

What Kirk had failed to foresee when he first made this discovery about Scotty was that Scotty would have no trouble undermining _him_ once _he_ became the captain.

"It's ridiculous," he complained. "It's stupid, it's pointless, it's – "

"Starfleet Command's decision," Scotty finished. "And they made it pretty clear they aren't taking 'no, but thanks for the suggestion' as an answer. We're sitting tight here and waiting for the situation to calm down before we proceed."

"It's a waste of time! Do you have any idea how long that will take?"

"No, but I would like to know if you plan on spending all of that time down here, distracting me and being a nuisance."

"It's mutiny." Kirk's tone came out more whiny than accusatory, which only made him pout more. "I ought to ship Spock off to some frozen wasteland, see how he likes it for a change."

"It's not mutiny when your orders are overruled by someone higher up than you. And when you're being an idiot."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who was kidnapped. And nearly murdered."

"With all due respect, Captain – which is to say, none whatsoever – it's a wee little bump on the head and some time in sickbay. Don't be a baby about it."

"Bones pronounced me unfit for duty!"

"Because you're acting like a madman. Get a grip on yourself, before I send you back to the infirmary with another bump to match the first one."

"At least I can still count on the Enterprise," Kirk grumbled. "She'll never turn on me."

"Oh, you might think she's yours when you're up on the bridge, Captain," Scotty informed him with a somehow menacing cheer, "But I don't get dazzled by all these pretty screens. I spend my time down in the engines, and I know how it really is. She's her own, this ship, and if anything, it's us that belong to her, not the other way around."

Kirk groaned and banged his head against the wall. This is why they'd made him the captain, then, not because of his outstanding courage and skill and charm, but because he was apparently the only sane person aboard the Enterprise – and pretty soon he wouldn't even have that going for him, not if things kept up like this. _Now_ he understood why everyone said that leadership was so lonely.


End file.
